The man accused of assassinating the top Democrat in the Minnesota House held deeply religious and politically conservative views, telling a congregation in Africa two years ago that the U.S. was in a “bad place” where most churches didn’t oppose abortion.
Vance Luther Boelter, 57, was at the center of a massive multistate manhunt on Sunday, a day after authorities say he impersonated a police officer and gunned down former House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, in their home outside Minneapolis. Democratic Gov. Tim Walz described the shooting as “a politically motivated assassination.”
Sen. John Hoffman, also a Democrat, and his wife, Yvette, were shot earlier by the same gunman at their home nearby but survived.
Friends and former colleagues interviewed by The Associated Press described Boelter as a devout Christian who attended an evangelical church and went to campaign rallies for Donald Trump. Records show Boelter registered to vote as a Republican while living in Oklahoma in 2004 before moving to Minnesota where voters don’t list party affiliation.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but targeted assasination of someone has never counted as domestic terrorism, unless carried out by non-state actors, just like the guy who attempted to kill Trump would not be a terrorist
You’re wrong. Targeted assassination of political enemies is the use of violence against non-combatants for political/ideological aims. It’s textbook terrorism.
They’re careful not to label it as terrorism because once you get on the back foot and admit that one white MAGA guy attempting (and succeeding) in killing a Democrat is terrorism then you have to admit that the tens of thousands of others who are threatening it should also be monitored and treated as serious threats - and they absolutely do not want to do that as they know that white conservatives are the majority of domestic terror threats in the US.
This is an insightful comment. Thank you for sharing that.
I guess that makes sense
I’m unsure what you mean by “non-state actor”, but Luigi is accused of a targeted assassination and is being called a terrorist.
Unfortunately, you are probably wrong. It seems that this guy killed them because of ideology. If that isn’t terrorism, then I don’t know what is terrorism.